The Chromatic Fantasy: Trans Love, The Devils & Mel Brooks w/comics artist H.A.

One of my greatest friends and frequent collaborator Steven Attewell has died. Here are some thoughts about his work and his history that I wanted to share with the fan community.  You can make donations in his honor to the Emergency Workplace Organizing Fund https://workerorganizing.org/  Maester Steven's Legendary Tumblr: Race for the Iron Throne https://racefortheironthrone.tumblr.com/  https://racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com/ A People's History of the Marvel Universe - https://graphicpolicy.com/category/history/peoples-history-of-the-marvel-universe/ You can read the obit I wrote here - https://graphicpolicy.com/2024/04/11/steven-attewell-the-maester-of-fandom/ The Venture Bros Podcast https://graphicpolicy.com/the-venture-bros-podcast/  His Game of Thrones Vblogs with Scott Erik Kaufman (which are also available as podcasts under Lawyers Guns and Money Podcast) 

“Do not make me let you down” - Magneto  From Henry Gyrich and the Great Replacement Theory to anti-mutant medical discrimination here's our conversation about the debut of the new X-Men '97 animated TV series.  Steven Attewell brings a historian’s perspective to X-Men ’97 — the exciting revival of the animated X-Men show of our youth. We do a deep dive into the show’s impressive politics and significant design choices. Learn about real world political parallels both past and VERY present, developments in evolutionary science, queer themes and crop tops. This episode opens with 9 minutes of spoiler free discussion till and then a spoiler-filled look at episodes 1 and 2. Read Steven's blog https://racefortheironthrone.tumblr.com/  and his A People's History of the Marvel Universe https://graphicpolicy.com/author/stevenattewell/  And our classic roundtable in which civil rights history experts prove that no, Professor X is not MLK Jr. MLK Jr was far more radical and visionary. https://bit.ly/MLKencore

Film Noir has been a cultural touchstone for nearly a century, and Deep Space Nine revels in it in season 2 episode 8. In "Necessary Evil" we flashback to Odo and Kira's very uncute meet-cute during the Occupation. Join us as we discuss Sarah Daniel Rasher’s favourite DS9 episode, unpacking all of its references and allusions while tackling some of its hard hitting substance. From Ferengi Casablanca and the mystery of Kira’s ponytail to Odo’s multitudes and the difference between a murder and a "casualty", this episode demands a rewatch whether you're new to noir or a buff like Sarah and I. Because after all: it’s the stuff that podcasts are made of….     

"Everything you're doing is a perfectly logical way to save your own life" Horror author and cultural critic Jude Ellison S. Doyle returns to the podcast to talk about his new comic book series, The Neighbors with art byLetizia Cadonici and Alessandro Santoro.  A queer family moves to a small town in this tale of folk horror published by Boom Studios. The comic is rich with Celtic mythology. It wrestles with heartbreaking realities we face today —especially for trans and disabled readers. Our conversation ranges from the what makes a horror story resonate to the power of reassessing your own writing, while not trying to twist yourself for bad faith readers. Subscribe to Jude's excellent newsletter https://jude-doyle.ghost.io/ Get The Neighbors! https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Neighbors-The/Jude-Ellison-S-Doyle/9781608861071  

Jadzia Dax is a woman in science, a member of a structurally gender fluid species, and a batleth swinging badass. She has one of the best coming out as trans scenes. She's lived many lives and she’s the emotional glue that holds the crew together. Dax is a beloved Star Trek Deep Space Nine character and she shares a name (and more) with a fanastic writer who joins as our guest: Jadzia Axelrod is the GLAAD award nominated comics writer of Galaxy: The Prettiest Star and Hawkgirl for DC Comics. She's the writer ofThe DC Book of Pride for DK, as well as The Battle of Blood and Ink for Tor. Obviously we needed to have Jadzia on to talk about Jadzia. You can listen to Jadzia talk about Galaxy and Hawkgirl on Graphic Policy Radio here: https://graphicpolicy.com/2023/02/21/creator-jadzia-axelrod-on-galaxy-the-prettiest-star-for-dc-comics Follow Jadzia here https://www.jaredaxelrod.com/ and as PlanetX on the socials https://twitter.com/planetx     

Who lives to tell the tale of our favorite queer pirate romance/comedy? OFMD returned for a second (and final?) season on HBO Max. Linda Codega, journalist (and sailor!)  joins me to discuss: What’s up with Blackbeard tourism IRL?Is Buttons a sea druid?Can we make Calypso’s Birthday the new queer Halloween?The pirate polycule? Why we really need season 3! Linda H. Codega is an award-winning entertainment journalist who has written about science fiction and fantasy media for over five years. They were previously a staff writer for io9 where they covered film, television, books, and analog games. Much of their work covers a mix of tabletop roleplaying games, pop culture, fandom, and queer intersections.  Subscribe to their newsletter: https://clickbaiter.substack.com/  Listen to my pirate history deep dive for season 1, including a spoiler-free intro to the series.  https://bit.ly/OFMDpod  Linda’s coverage of the season 2 finale https://gizmodo.com/our-flag-means-death-s2-finale-izzy-hands-death-fandom-1850978817 My article, Our Flag Means Death Takes Queering History to New Depths https://www.wired.com/story/our-flag-means-death-season-2-queering-history/  Fan activism https://ofmd-crew.com/ 

"Power doesn't shatter on impact with journalism," - Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist Spencer Ackerman. Ackerman returns to talk about the thrilling conclusion of his DC comics debut, Waller Vs. Wildstorm, the role of journalism in social movements, blogging antiwar protests, why Tim Drake is the best Robin, and share some of his favorite Wildstorm comics.  For a spoiler-free introduction to the Waller Vs. Wildstorm miniseries, listen to our conversation back in March https://bit.ly/WallerVs.  Waller Vs. Wildstorm is Spencer's DC Comics Black Label mini series with co-writer Evan Narcisse, artist Jesús Merino, and color artist Michael Atiyeh. It's jawdroppingly good, even if you don't know Wildstorm. It's full of politics, espionage and Deathstroke on a jetski. This is an extremely Graphic Policy Radio series... Keep up with Spencers Journalism at https://foreverwars.ghost.io/  Spencer Ackerman is a Pulitzer Prize and National Magazine Award winning national security reporter and a new columnist for The Nation. His book, REIGN OF TERROR: HOW THE 9/11 ERA DESTABILIZED AMERICA AND PRODUCED TRUMP, won an American Book Award and was rated a 2021 book of the year by the Washington Post, the New York Times and the PBS NewsHour.

Deep Space Nine inspired us as nonbinary people. On this episode the hosts (we're both nonbinary) delve into DS9 characters read through a nonbinary lens, especially Ezri Dax, Jadzia Dax, Odo and Pel, the Ferengi. Find out: Is it nonbinary to be a Bajoran hawk? Odo's “I can't get the ears right” is extremely trans.If you’re a shapeshifter why not make yourself a cooler shirt? The limits of language and when making things awkward is the point.What we saw in this show as teens figuring out our identities Vs. what we see in it now as adults reflecting back. Catch all our past episodes of Deep Space Dive podcast: https://graphicpolicy.com/deep-space-dive/

"like a medieval manuscript full of demon sex...' but also written by an anime Mel Brooks." - H.A's stunning graphic novel is all this and more. H.A joins me to talk about his debut graphic novel, The Chromatic Fantasy available from Silver Sprocket Press.  About the book: Jules is a trans man trapped in his life as a nun. The devil that the convent guards against offers him a deal to escape: an illicit tryst and lifelong possession. Jules takes the deal, and begins his new life as a criminal who’s impervious to harm. He soon meets Casper, another trans man and a poetic thief, and together they steal, lie, and cheat their way through bewildering adventures, and develop feelings for each other along the way. But as Jules and Casper’s relationship deepens, so does the devil’s jealous grasp… A gorgeously drawn graphic novel reminiscent of stained glass and illuminated manuscripts, telling a story of queer transmasc romance, daring adventure, and (literally) fighting your demons.  Keep up with HA https://retrospring.net/@dirtcup_art   https://www.instagram.com/dirtcup_art

A fading genre actor and an obsessed fan meet. It's not Misery at all, it's Parasocial, the latest graphic novel from the twisted minds of Erica Henderson and Alex de Campi! Parasocial is this creative team's newest collaboration since their critically acclaimed Dracula, Motherf--r! both published by Image Comics.  We talk about: What makes a horror story deeply scary Who is Luke Indiana and the power of pseudonymsThe economics of fandom and genre celebrity95% of fandom is a wonderful transformative force, it's the other 5%....The power and perils of fandom and social media"A color scheme for the lies they tell themselves and a color scheme for the lies they tell other people"DraculaMaking fan art of your artAnd the Medici family's sexy bible fan art Erica Henderson is a NY Times best selling and Eisner award winning artist and writer. You've read Unbeatable Squirrel Girl. Her latest is Danger and Other Unknown Risks. Buy her merch https://ericafails.threadless.com/  Alex de Campi is a writer of best selling horror/thrillers. Eisner-nominated for Bad Girls and Twisted Romance. She's a returning guest on my show-- listen to her talk about Dracula MF- https://bit.ly/alexdcVV